Awareness Level and Practices of Heart Healthy Diet of Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Abstract

Change in dietary habits with reduction in specific type of foods with heavy calories may help in prevention of many types of primary and secondary Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD). Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of death all over the world and mostly treated by Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG). The recommended diet according to the guidelines, is high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and is low in high fats and processed foods. The factors involved in consumption of low-quality diet mainly are lack of public awareness about the role of dietary style in development of CVD, lack of food due to low socioeconomic conditions, cultural and traditional differences of food preparation and availability of poor-quality food in markets Objectives: To assess the level of awareness amongst the patients of coronary artery bypass grafting in its worst form. Methods: The study was performed on 91 patients of CAD, admitted for CABG in tertiary care hospital. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted for a period of eight months. All patients admitted for revascularization for CAD were included. Details of patients co morbidities were collected and their socioeconomic status was confirmed from the medical record. They were scored on their general education, knowledge about heart healthy diet according to American Heart Association (AHA) dietary guidelines and their dietary practices were scored healthy or non-healthy based on their answers. Results: Among the patients, approximately, 75.82% were males, 96.7% had age above 49 years, half of the patients had some sort of awareness regarding heart healthy diet, 37% were following healthy diet, 50% were partially following and 4.4% were not following at all. Conclusion: The awareness of participants regarding heart healthy diet was over all poor and also their dietary practices were even worse and not in accordance to the medical recommendations. There is a need to increase awareness in heart patients regarding healthy diet choices so that their risk of disease progression can be reduced